Fire-door.



II. C. WALDIVIAN.

FIRE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8. I9I.

Patented Feb. 4. 1919.

T i @n FIF..

` FIRE-Doon.

Application led February 8, 1917.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN C. WALDMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis,'Mi-ssouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire-Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to iire doors, and particularly to counterbalanced doors, namely, doors of the type that comprise two horizontally-divided sections, one of which moves upwardly and the other downwardly during the operation of opening the door.

One object of my present invention is to provide a fire door of Ithe general type referred to which is so constructed that it can be used successfully in a building in which the space between the door openings of adjacent floors of the building Vis less than ihe depth or height of the sections of the oor.

Another object is to provide a door of the character above referred to that comprises a fire stop of novel construction for closing the space between the top section of the door and the lintel of the door opening, when the door is in its closed position.

Another object is Ito provide a counterbalanced fire door that comprises means of novel construction for sustaining the weight of the bottom section ofthe door and for preventing said bottom section from springing away from the sill of the door opening, when a truck strikes the upper edge of the bottom section in passing through the door opening.

And still another object is to provide a coiinterbalanced re door that is equipped with a novel means for preventing the two sections of the door from springing away from the lintel and from the sill of the door opening when the door is in its closed position. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of an elevator shaft re door constructed in 'accordance with my invention, showing the door in its closed position.

Fig. 2 is a -similar view, showing the door in its open position.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are horizontal sectional views, taken 0n the lines 3 3, L /I, and 5-5, respectively of Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. d, 1919. Serial No. 147,282. l

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the binders on the sill of the door opening; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are detail sectional views, illustrating` slight modifications of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate an elevator shaft fire door constructed in accordance with my invention, A andB designate the top and bottom sections of the door which are combined with a suitable door-operating mechanism (not shown) v that causes said sections A and B to separate and move upwardly and downwardly, respectively, during the operation of opening the door and to move toward each other when the door is being closed. Both sections of the door are arranged inside of the elevator shaft, as shown in Fig. l, and vertically-disposed traclrs or guides C are provided for holding the door sections in position and for guiding them, said tracks coperating with laterally-projecting devices on the side edges of the door sections, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. It is immaterialhow the sections of the door are constructed, ybut I prefer to form each section from one or more sheets of metal surrounded by an angle iron frame l.

Instead of arranging both sections of the door in the same vertical plane, as has heretofore been the general practice in counterbalanced fire doors for elevator shafts, I arrange the top and bottom sections of my improved door in different vertical planes, so that one section of the door will be spaced away from the wall of the elevator shaft a distance equal to the thickness of the other section of the door. In the embodiment of my invention herein shown the top section A of the door is spaced away from the wall of the elevator shaft and a fire stop of novel construction is provided for closing the space between the lintel 2 of the door opening and the top section o-f the door when the door is in its closed position. By constructing the door in this manner I make it possible to use fire doors of standard height in a building provided with low ceilings or in a building` in which the space between the door openings of two adjacent floors is less u than the height or depth of the door sections,

owing to the fact that the top section of each door is spaced far enough away from the lintel of the door opening to permit the bottom section of a door located on one floor to move downwardly past the top sec- CII tion of the door on the lloor below and the top section to move upwardly past the bottom section of the door located on the floor above when the door is being opened, it of course being understood that the fire doors on the various floors of the building are arranged in vertical alinement with each other. In other words, a door of the construction above described composed of two sections, each four eet deep, can be used successfully in a building in which the space between the sill of the door opening on one floor and the lintel of the door opening on the floor beneath is only two feet, on account of the fact that the sections of the door are arranged in different vertical planes, for when the door is in. its open position the top section of same will overlap the bottom section of the door above same two feet and the bottom section of the door that is open will overlap the .top section of the doorbelow same two feet. The fact that the top and bottom sections of the door that is open partially obstruct the door openings on the floors above and below same is immaterial, owing to the fact that the lire doors of an elevator shaft are so constructed that only one door at a time can be opened, namely, the door on the floor at which the elevator car is standing.

l/Vhen the door is in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 1, the space between the upper section of the door and the lintel of the door opening is closed by a tire stop D of novel construction, which is so arranged that it will move downwardly automatically into an inoperative position when the door on the floor above is opened. The lire stop D that cooperates with each door isl preferably carried by the bottom section of thedoor 1ocated on the floor above, and while it is immaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, how said fire stop is supported, one convenient. way of mounting the fire stop consists in suspending it from the bottom section of the door above by means of rods or bolts 3 that pass freely through holes in the angle iron l at the lower edge of the bottom section B of the door arranged above the lire stop, the heads 3a on said bolts being located beneath the lire stop and the nuts 3b at the upper ends of the bolts being located above the horizontal flange of the angle 1 through which` the bolts pass, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. "When oneof thedoors in the elevator shaft is, moved into its open position the tire stop D that coperates with the door below the door which is being opened will move downwardly with the bottom section of the door that is being opened;

as shown in broken lines in Fig.` 1, thus permitting said bottom section to pass downwardly between the lintel 2 and the top section A of the door located on the floor below.l If the height of the door sections is such that the tire stop D strikes against the upper edge of the bottom section of the closed door located on the floor below betore the bottom section of the door that is being opened reaches its extreme lower po sition, the iire stop D will come to rest before the bottom section of the door that is being opened reaches its extreme lower position, this being possible on account of the fact that the fire stop D is carried by bolts or rods 3 that pass loosely through holes in the angle at the lower edge of the door that is being opened. When the door is restored to its normal closed position the fire stop that coperates with the door located on the Hoor below will be moved upwardly into its normal position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, by reason of the connection between said fire stop and the bottom section of the door that is being restored to its closed position. The tire stop D of course extends transversely across the entire width of the door opening, and in the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated said lire stop consists of an angle-shaped member, preferably formed from a piece of sheet metal, whose horizontal legis provided at its front edge with an upwardly-projecting flange fl and whose vertical leg is provided with a rearwardly-pro] ecting, horizontallydisposed flange 5. WVhen the fire stop D is in its normal position the flange l at the front edge of same bears against the angle 1 at the upper edge of the top section A. of the door with which` said fire stop coperates, and the horizontally-disposed flange 5 at the inner edge of said stop laps over and bears against the underside of the lintel of the door opening, the angle-shaped portion of the stop being arranged above the upper edge of the door opening and in front of the lintel 2, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. At the opposite ends of the re stop D are'extensions 6 that cooperate with the vertically-disposed tracks or guides C on the wall of the elevator shaft to hold the lire stop in proper position and prevent it from swinging outwardly away from the wall, each of said extensions 6 being preferably formed from a short piece of angle iron whose horizontal leg is partially sheared oii7 so that the vertical leg of same will act as1 a guidingdevice, the extensions 6 being connected to the fire stop D in such a manner that they can move slightly with relation to said stop, and thus prevent the stop from buckling when the fire stop is subjected to a high degree of heat. ln the structure herein shown the horizontal flanges of the extensions 6 are connected to the horizontal leg of the angle-shaped port-ion of the re stop D by means of bolts or rivets 7 that pass through elongated holes in the extension members 6.

The door herein illustrated embodies some of the good features and characteristics of the compound slide-up ire door described in my prior Patent N o. 1,034,848, dated August 6, 1912, namely, it is so constructed that the top and bottom sections of the door cannot spring away from the lintel and the sill of the door opening when the door is in its closed position, but the means employed in the door herein illustrated for binding the top and bottom sections of same to the lintel and to the sill is slightly different in design from the binding means illustrated in my prior patent above referred to. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the fire stop D is provided with one or more binders E, pref'- erably hook-shaped devices, that lap over the vertical leg of the angle 1 at the upper edge of the top section A of the door, when the door is in its closed position, and thus prevent the top section A from springing away from the lintel, said binders E being connected to the lintel 2 when the fire stop D is in its normal position, by means of downwardly-projecting studs 8 on the underside of the lintel 2 that project through holes in portions 9 of the binders that lap over the underside of the lintel. The binders E can be formed conveniently from short strips of heavy metal that are bent to conform to the cross-sectional shape of the fire stop D and which are securely connected to Y same by rivets or bolts 10, as shown in Fig.

4, the hook-shaped portion at the front end of each binder being arranged far enough in front of the upwardly-projecting hangs 4 on the fire stop D to receive the depending vertical leg of the angle 1 at the upper edge of the top section A of the door. When the lire stop D moves downwardly in the manner previously described the portions 9 of the binders E move out of engagement with the studs 8 on the underside of the lintel 2 and when said fire stop moves upwardly back to its normal position the portions 9 of the binders will engage said studs, and thus cause the binders to be securely connected to the lintel of the door opening. The top section A of the door is provided with a housing 11 for each of the binders E, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 4, and while I have herein shown only one binder E for the top section of the door, it will, of course, be understood that it is immaterial whether one or a plurality of binders are employed for preventing the top section of the door from springing away from the llntel.

Binders F are also employed for preventing the bottom section B 'of the door from springing away from the sill 2a of the door opening, said binders F being arranged on the front side of the sill 2a below the top of the sill and the bottom section B of the door being provided with housings 11a for receiving the binders F, as shown in Fig. 3. The binders F are so designed that when the door is in its closed position said binders will coperate with the vertical leg of the angle 1 at the lower edge of the bottom section B vof the door to prevent said bottom section from springing away from the sill. I also prefer to provide each of the binders F with an upwardly-projecting flange 12 that coperates with the depending leg of the angle 1 at the upper edge of the bottom section B of the door to prevent the same from springing away from the sill 2a when the door is in its open position, as shown in Fig. 2. It is immaterial how the binders F are formed, but the binders F herein shown each consists of a casting provided with a portion 13 connected by means of bolts or other suitable fastening devices 14 to the sill, a portion 15 that laps over the angle at the lower edge of the bottom section B when the door is closed, and a portion 12, previously referred to, that laps over the angle at the upper edge of said bottom section when the door is in its open position. The binders F not only hold the bottom section of the door in position and prevent it from springing away from the sill of the dooropening when the door is in its closed position and in its open position, but said binders also assist in carrying the weight of the bottom section B of the door when the door is in its open position, owing to the fact that the angle 1 that eX- tends transversely across the upper edge of the bottom section of the door rests upon said binders when the door is in its open position. In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a door in which practically the entire weight 0f the bottom section B is carried by the binders F when the door is in its open position, but in Figs. 1 and 2 and in Fig. 8 I have illustrated doors in which part of the weight of the bottom section B is carried by the sill 2";L when the door is open. In the door shown in Figs. l and 2 stops 16 are connected to the angle 1 at the upper edge of the bottom section B of the door in such a manner that they will rest upon the sill 2a when the door is in its open position, as shown in Fig. 2, and thus cause the sill to carry all or a portion of the weight of the bottom section of the door, depending upon whether the binders F are so designed that they act as combined stops and binders for the bottom section or merely as binders to prevent said bottom section from springing away from the sill. In the door shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the portions of the stops 16 that coperate with the sill are arranged a slight distance above the upper edge of the bottom section B of the door, and a trucking sill 17 is connected to the upper edge of the bottom section B so as to form a bridge plate between the sill 2a of the door opening and the floor of the elevator car G when the door is in its open position, as shown in Fig. Q, said sill plate 17 preferably consisting of a piece of angle iron arranged transversely of the bottom section B of the door between the stops 16 and connected to the angle iron frame of the bottom section B by suitable fastening devices that pass through fillers 18. In the form of my invention shown in Fig. S no bridge plate is used, but the bottom section B of the door is provided at its upper edge with a continuous stop 16 arranged flush with the angle at the upper edge of said bottom section B, so as to transfer the load of the bottom section B onto the sill 2 of the door opening when the door is in its open position, the door sill 2a being` provided with a notch or recess that receives the horizontally-disposed portion of the stop 16a. In the door shown in Fig. 7 a bridge plate 17a is connected to the upper edge of the bottom section B, so as to rest upon the sill 2a of the door opening when the door is in its open position. The top section A is provided at its lower edge with a pin 20 that projects downwardly through an opening in the member 17 on the bottom section B, so as to prevent the two sections from springing apa-rt at the center of the door.

A counterbalanced fire door of the construction above described makes it possible to use lire doors of standard height in a building in which the distance between the sills and lintels of the door openings on the various floors is less than the height of the sections of the doors, owing` to the fact that the top and bottom section of each door are arranged in different vertical planes and in such a manner that said sections can lap over the doors on the iioors above and below same when the door is moved into its open position. The space between the top section of each door and its cooperating lintel is closed by an efficient fire stop that moves automatically into an inoperative position when the door above same is being` opened; and another desirable feature of my improved door is that the top and bottom sections of same are securely bound to the lintel and to the sill of the door opening when the door is in its closed position. Furthermore, the bottom section of the door is securely bound to the sill when the door is in its open position and the entire weight of the bottom section is carried either by the sill direct or by the binders on the sill that coperate with the bottom section of the door.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patt'ent, is:

1. In a fire door structure, a counterbalanced tire door composed of a plurality of sections that move in opposite directions both when the door is opened and closed, said sections being arranged in 'different vertical planes and one section being spaced far enough away from the wall in which the door opening is formed to produce a door pocket, and a second door provided with oppositely-m'oving sections, one of `which enters said pocket when said second door is opened to permit one section of a door at an adjacent door opening provided with similarly arranged sections to pass between same and the wall when said similar door is moved into its open position.

2. A counterbalanced fire door, comprising two sections arranged in ,dierent vertical planes, the top section being spaced far enough away from the lintel of the door opening to form a pocket that is adapted to receive the bottom section of a similar door arranged in a higher horizontal plane.

3. A lire door provided with a verticallymovable portionthat is spaced -away from the wall in which the door opening is formed, so as to produce a door pocket whose width is substantially the thickness of the door section, and means for closing the space between the wall and said verticallymovable portion when the door is closed.

4. A counterbalanced fire door, comprising two sections arranged in different planes that move in opposite directions both whenv the door is being opened and closed, the top section being spaced away from the lintel of the door opening, and a lire stop for closing the space between the lintel and the top section of the door.

5. In a fire door structure, a fire door provided with a tire stop for closing the joint between the door and the lintel of the door opening, a second fire door arranged above said stop in vertical alinement with same and means whereby said stop is moved into an inoperative position when said second door is moved downwardly into its open position.

6. In a fire door structure, a fire door provided with a vertically-movable portion that is spaced away from the wall in which the door opening is formed, a fire stop for closing the joint between the door and the wall, a second fire door arranged yabove said stop, and means for suspending said stop from said second door.

7. In a fire door structure, a` lire door provided with a vertically-movable portion that moves downwardly during the operation of opening the door, a fire stop suspended from said portion, a second door located in a lower horizontal plane and cooperating with said re stop and means for permitting said re stop to come to rest before the door that carries same reaches its lower limit of movement.

8. A fire door, comprising a verticallymovable portion that is spaced away from the lintel of the door opening substantially the width of the door section, and a re Stop interposed between the door and the lintel and provided `with portions that bear against the door and lap over the underside of the lintel.

9. In a iire door structure, a fire door provided with a vertically-movable portion that moves downwardly during the operation of opening a door, a fire stop suspended from the same, a second vertically movable door located at a lower horizontal plane, said lre stop coperating with said door to close the joint between the wall and the door, and means for securing said re stop to the lintel of the door opening with which said second door coperates.

10. A counterbalanced fire door, comprising two sections that are arranged in different vertical planes, verticallydisposed tracks for guiding said sections` a iire stop arranged between the lintel of the door opening and the sto-p section of the door, and movable independently of said top section, and extensions 'on said lire stop that cooperate with said tracks.

ll. A counterbalanced fire door, comprising two sections that are arranged in different vertical planes, vertically-disposed tracks for guiding said sections, a ire stop arranged between the lintel of the door opening and the top section of the door, and extensions on said ire stop that copo erate with said tracks, said extensions being connected to said fire stop in such a manner that they can move longitudinally of the fire stop sufficiently t-o prevent samer from buckling.

12. A counterbalanced fire door, comprising two sections that move in opposite directions when the door is being opened or closed, said sections being arranged in different vertical planes, and means that prevents said sections from springing away from the lintel and from the sill of the door opening.

13. A door provided with a section that moves upwardly during the operation of opening the door, said section being spaced away from the lintel of the door opening, a fire stop interposed between the lintel and said section and movable independently of said section, and a binder on said sto-p for preventing said section from springing away from said stop.

14:. A fire door, comprising two vertically movable sections arranged in different vertical planes, the lower section being closely adjacent the wall in which the door opening is formed and the upper section bemg spaced therefrom substantially the width of the door section, a fire stop for closing the space between the lintel of the door opening and the top section of the door said stop being movable independently of said top section, and binders that coperate with the top and bottom sections of the door to prevent them from springing away from the lintel and the sill of the door opening.

HERMAN C. WALDMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for jive cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner or Patents. Washington, 1D. C. 

